by Janine Zeitlin, The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press

At age 27, he vanished and last was seen Jan. 12, 2004, with a Collier County sheriff's deputy.

She has trudged through weeds and woods, searching for clues. She has slipped fliers to drivers at intersections, hoping for leads. She has spent time, each day, praying for resolution.

But years ticked by and the trail grew colder until Thursday. Movie mogul Tyler Perry warmed it with a $100,000 reward in the cases of Marcia's son, Terrance Williams, and Felipe Santos.

Santos, a 23-year-old man from Immokalee, Fla., disappeared three months before Williams on Oct. 14, 2003. His last-known encounter was with the same deputy, Steve Calkins.

In 2004, the sheriff's office veteran was fired after lying and giving inconsistent stories related to Williams.

Calkins has said he gave Williams and Santos rides to Circle K convenience stores in North Naples, Fla., just miles apart.

On Thursday, Perry announced here that he would reward tips that lead to the men, their remains or clues that crescendo in an arrest.

"I do not think this is about race or social status as much as I think this about we all, no matter who we are, what race, should be outraged that this is happening in America in 2013," he said.

Running on nerves and five hours of sleep, Marcia Williams joined Perry, Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Ben Jealous, NAACP president and chief executive, before the cameras.

Williams, who lives here, had prayed for this kind of attention for years while confronting the obsession for pretty, white women who go missing vs. the trickle of interest for men, especially of color.

Local media covered the disappearances, but her national pitches went unanswered until recent years when shows such as "Investigation Discovery" featured the cases.

That's where Perry learned about the men.

Williams did not expect Anthony Denson Jr., to interrupt the conference with information. He said he knew her son. Through sobs, Denson told the crowd that Calkins and three deputies chased him on the beach in 1997.

"They were gonna kill me," he said.

Perry hugged him. Murmurs and "Amen's" percolated while a tearful Williams cupped a hand to her mouth and retreated to a corner. Monica Caison, executive director of the CUE Center for Missing Persons, rushed to her side.

She and other searchers from the Community United Effort Center have been coming here from their Wilmington, N.C., for eight years to support Williams in her mission.

God is working, Williams thought. Fear is loosening. She has hope people will talk.

But it's too early to know if Denson will help her find her only child, whom she presumes is dead. He was the father of four children. Sheriff's detectives planned to seek a statement from Denson.

Speakers praised Perry and Williams for drawing a spotlight to the cases. Sharpton called for a national movement to resolve missing-persons cases. Nearly 680,000 missing people were recorded as missing in 2011.

He urged people never to forget parents like Williams.

Thursday was the culmination of a mother standing up, the NAACP's Jealous said.

"Sons don't disappear and never call their mama at night. It just doesn't happen," he said. "This reward gives us hope. The only way to turn a cold case into a live case is to turn up the heat."

Calkins, who has claimed innocence in the past but declined to speak to a federal grand jury in 2004, remains a person of interest for investigators. Records show he lives in a middle-class North Naples neighborhood at a home where no one answered the door Thursday.

Along with the Collier County sheriff's office, the FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Florida State Attorney's Office are involved. Detectives have chased more than two dozen tips from Estero, Fla., to Kansas to Canada.

Williams was the last to approach the lectern Thursday.

She straightened the crystal necklace that held a photo of her son near her heart.

She stood tall and, in a strong voice, she thanked everyone there that day.

Caison watched proudly as this woman who had once been wracked with fear spoke into microphones with lines to the nation.

That is not to say Williams is free of pain. She wakes up most nights, mind racing like a treadmill with questions. Friday is the 9-year anniversary of the last day she saw her son after picking him up at a Pizza Hut in Bonita Springs, Fla., where he worked.

Oct. 14, 2003: Felipe Santos goes missing in North Naples after he was in a traffic accident on his way to a construction job. Deputy Steven Calkins responds to the crash and drives Santos to a convenience store.

Nov. 4, 2003: Collier County Sheriff's internal investigators talk to Calkins while other detectives check the convenience store, local hospitals and jails for Santos.

January 2004: Sheriff's detectives check a bus stop where Santos reportedly had been seen but find no evidence he had been there.

Jan. 12, 2004: Terrance Williams goes missing after his car breaks down at Naples Memorial Gardens cemetery. Calkins picks up Williams and drops him off at a different convenience store.

Jan. 14, 2004: Authorities in Tennessee issue a warrant for Williams' arrest on a charge of failing to pay child support.

Jan. 16, 2004: Williams' parents call the sheriff's office to say their son is missing.

Jan. 19, 2004: Detectives check the convenience store, Collier County Jail, a Pizza Hut and a Walmart where Williams might have been seen.

Feb. 9, 2004: Detectives view a store videotape that shows Williams making a purchase at a 7-Eleven in Naples Park on Jan. 11 of that year.

April 2004: Detectives using cadaver dogs search 10 areas in North Naples.

August 2004: FBI agents in Mexico City issue a report stating Santos was not with family in Mexico and that they had no idea where he was.

September 2004: Calkins is fired after a polygraph test indicates he lied when asked if he saw Williams again after dropping him off.

Nov. 29, 2004: Detectives search another area in North Naples with cadaver dogs.

July 2006: DNA is collected from Williams' mother.

January 2007: DNA is collected from Santos' brother for missing persons database.

January 2012: Cases featured on Discovery Channel and later on Anderson Cooper 360 and Dateline.

February 2012: Movie mogul Tyler Perry goes on the Rev. Al Sharpton's MSNBC show to discuss the cases.

April 2012: A new tip leads law enforcement to search a mile of brush in hopes of finding the remains of Williams and Santos.

Jan. 10, 2013: Perry offers $100,000 reward for information in connection with the cases during a Naples news conference with NAACP president and Sharpton.